What Are The Best Tubes Made??

JR Ross · From: New Mexico, USA

Ok ..So I just bought one the best tube amps ever made for Steel Guitar ...(which is Tim Marcuses Milkman 85 watter)..Trust me on this IT ROCKS!! SO..MY new amp (which Tim endorses has Ruby Tubes). I love the performance of Ruby Tubes ..No Problemo with these from my end
..Tell me the advantages of having the old NOS ..RCA ..Tubes ( on my next purchase )..I am assuming to go this route although it will cost a small fortune may be worth it!

QUESTION? Will NOS TUBES increase my tone to another level, ..OR ARE THEY OVERRATED?? You see ,,I am willing to go the extra mile for NOS tubes if it is worth it? I also heard that the old NOS tubes LAST
LOTS LONGER!! If that's true the extra hundreds a bucks may make sence to me!! WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK?

Donny Hinson · From: Glen Burnie, Md. U.S.A.

By all means, the more you spend - the better you will sound. Razz

Craig Baker · From: Eatonton, Georgia, USA - R.I.P.

Donny,
Have you ever considered a career in sales?

JR
Since you asked. . . I can't think of anyone who is more familiar with a Milkman amp than Tim Marcus. I'm sure he has gone through source after source in an effort to find the very best components for his amplifiers. Why not purchase a spare set of tubes directly from Tim? Or at least get the replacement tubes from Tim when these become exhausted. They work. Why experiment when Tim has already done that?

Congratulations on having an excellent amp. If i played out, I'd want one.

Respectfully,
Craig Baker 706-485-8792

cmbakerelectronics@gmail.com

C.M. Baker Electronics
P.O. Box 3965
Eatonton, GA 31024

Len Amaral · From: Rehoboth,MA 02769

Just my opinion but I get the feeling that it's hit or miss with tubes. Mike Mathews at one time had a test & burn program where the tube was under a load for 24 hours to get matched pairs and weed out the weak from the good. That was many years ago....

Craig Schwartz · From: McHenry IL

Len , I believe the old ways with tubes are still being used to this day ( matching them up when you change all of the same tubes as a set )
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Tim Marcus · From: San Francisco, CA

I think the Ruby tubes are the best in my Milkman amps and here is why:

1 - they offer a 6 month warranty which includes replacement if anything goes wrong

2 - they sound great

3 - they print the PC (plate current) onto the tubes so you can replace the whole quad with the same value and skip biasing the amp

4 - they are a local CA company. Tubes made in China, but sold and designed right here in the bay area. China makes the best tubes right now - I know it seems crazy but those little suckers sound good and last very long!

I have not had a tube failure from them in a long time. Some of them do start to rattle or go microphonic but Ruby will replace them if they do.

You can get NOS tubes, but bear in mind that not all vintage tubes will be able to handle the high voltage and impedances found in my modern amp. The Milkman steel amp has been hot-rodded for pedal steel tone. There are higher plate voltages and larger transformers than there used to be in the old Fender days. Just make sure that if you do want to sub in old american tubes that the seller knows what the environment is for those tubes otherwise you might damage them or the amp.
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Milkmansound.com

MIchael Bean · From: North Of Boston

Mike Neer · From: NJ

I like Svetlana tubes best of all recent production.

I think there's no doubt that NOS tubes were better made and more reliable than thoset which are made today. I have had amps from the 40s, 50s and 60s with the original tubes still intact and functioning very well. I've also had many new tubes crap out on me within a few months of use (not abuse).
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Craig Baker · From: Eatonton, Georgia, USA - R.I.P.

Mike,
You're right on target. When we could no longer get RCA, GE or Amperex tubes for out transmitters, we had to choose from several "off-shore" brands. Taylor was the worst, offering a few weeks of service, Svetlana the best, but still behind our home grown brands of years ago.

I don't know Tim, never met or spoken with him. Have only seen the great testimonials here on the forum. It seems to me, if you have placed your confidence in Tim Marcus to the tune of a couple thousand dollars, and are obviously delighted with the return on your investment, why on earth would you consider going anywhere else for tubes or replacement parts?

Respectfully,
Craig Baker 706-485-8792

cmbakerelectronics@gmail.com

C.M. Baker Electronics
P.O. Box 3965
Eatonton, GA 31024

JR Ross · From: New Mexico, USA

Of course I will go to Tim when I need replacements or wherever he reccommends.. Sounds like I will probably stick with the Ruby Tubes anyway.. I was just trying to get a dialog goin of what others think.

Craig Baker · From: Eatonton, Georgia, USA - R.I.P.

J.R.
It worked.

BTW, a couple of weeks ago you posted some great photos of your amp and steel. Beautiful rig!

Scott Duckworth · From: Etowah, TN Western Foothills of the Smokies

You's guys, I'm surprised at you uns. You know good en well them's not tubes, they is VALVES!
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Brint Hannay · From: Maryland, USA

It may be that NOS tubes, or some NOS tubes, sound better than anything being made today (though that is the kind of thing that's hard to objectively verify), BUT:

People have been going after NOS tubes for decades now. It seems obvious that at some point there simply won't be any more. Also, considering that connoisseurs worked out decades ago which ones were "the really good ones" and have sought those out since, the cream of the crop is likely already gone, or nearly so. And the consumer has to take the seller's word for it that a tube is NOS--it may be an old US-made brand, but how do you as the consumer tell if it's really never been used?

Taking all that into consideration, together with the premium prices for "NOS" and the fact that current tube producers have been working at improving their products in response to what is a specialized market for them, it seems to me that we tube amp users might as well concentrate on finding what we like best from current manufacture, and buy those.

JR Ross · From: New Mexico, USA

Jeff Metz Jr. · From: York, Pennsylvania, USA

Myself, and many other musicians I know SWEAR BY the JJ TESLA Tubes. THey are top notch and can be bought on www.eurotubes.com
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Bob Carlucci · From: Candor, New York, USA

I have used tube amps since the 60's ,, There simply aren''t any good tubes made anymore.. I don't care whose "brand" is on it, they are unreliable junk... If you are lucky you might get a year out of a modern set.. Often you won't get 4 months.. I used to use USA made tubes hard for years on end, and they still tested 95%, and sounded great...
Today most tubes wear out 10 times faster than the US built tubes.. Some sound ok, but their usable life is only a fraction of what tube life used to be.. I think its simply planned obsolescence..
They want you to keep buying so tube life is "figured" into the manufacturing process.
there was no magic in 50's and 60's tubes. They were built to be reliable and to last.. Todays tubes were built to be replaced constantly.
Why else would you see so many amps from the 50's and 60's that are well used but still have perfectly functioning 50 and 60 year old tubes?... bob
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Tim Marcus · From: San Francisco, CA

Yes and no.

The tubes were essentially made the same way - back then the standards for acceptance were a lot higher. Now you get duds mixed in with the good ones because they test to a lower standard. Luckily places like Ruby test the tubes and weed those out.

Also the 4 month remark is not accurate. For example: Greg Leisz just did a 4 month tour with an amp with a two year old set of Ruby Tubes in it. They are the original Ruby tubes I put into that amp when he bought it in 2011. My amp that I built in 2010 with Rubys still has the originals in there - still putting out 85W. I used it just the other night on an outdoor gig with no PA and you could hear me echoing down the valley.

No question that the vintage tubes are better - but you can still get a dud. A least with new tubes you get a warranty. That's why I prefer them at this point.
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JR Ross · From: New Mexico, USA